Category: Ecology / Conservation

The Gunbower National Park is located in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria. GUNBOWER Forest is the Kakadu of the south, created by millions of years of large floods that historically spread up to 50 kilometres either side of the Murray River. It is an internationally important system of floodplains, creek and wetlands, spanning 20,000 …. more

THE DNA of freshwater fish in the Murray-Darling Basin has given scientists important clues to which species may have natural resilience against climate change in one of Australia’s most ecologically and economically important wetland habitats. The golden perch, also known as the ‘yellowbelly’, has been identified by Flinders University ecologists as being ‘genetically wired’ to …. more

A healthy kelp forest, above, and sediment-laden turfs on right. Image courtesy UWA. RESEARCH published today, January 18, into the state of kelp forests around the world shows they are being degraded into flat seascapes carpeted by short, unwanted turf-algae – and the Western Australian coastline is one of the worst-affected areas. It is the …. more

A NET filled with pheromone-soaked ‘dummy queens’ attached to a helium-filled weather-balloon is the latest tool being used by pollination researchers in their efforts to better understand the number of honey bee colonies in an area. Recently employed on the NSW north coast, and being conducted around Australia, the research aims to give growers an …. more

SPAWNING salmon that die after migrating home actually do their offspring a favour. The study, published today, December 15, in Ecology Letters, found that by dying, the decaying bodies of the salmon fertilise the stream and create an environment which favours the growth of the young fish and maintains their genetic diversity. Spawning salmon migrate …. more

NEW Deakin University research has shown a threatened species of Australian waterbird will fly thousands of kilometres to lay eggs equivalent to half their body weight in a bid to capitalise on suitable breeding conditions. The six year study, completed by scientists at Deakin’s Centre for Integrative Ecology, within the School of Life and Environmental …. more